The world's oldest llama and his 'life of luxury' on a Washington farm

Share

Guinness World Records is thrilled to confirm a new record for Julio, the Oldest llama living in captivity (living).

The much-loved animal lives with his owners Ron and Grace Hill on a farm in Olympia, Washington state, USA.

Grace fondly describes Julio as "incredibly sweet", as well as "a wise leader, teacher and protector who watches over his alpaca friends."

The gelding's age has been verified as an impressive 25 years based on a bill of purchase from 1992 completed three years after Julio’s assumed birth at Schreiner Farms on 4 July 1989; unfortunately there is insufficient evidence for us to officially recognise this date as Julio’s birthday.

The llama has been a huge part of the Hill family for 25 years, practically growing up alongside the couple’s daughter Gentry. He even attended her wedding!

Explaining how she came to purchase Julio, Grace said: "Our family friends owned a large herd of llamas. We were fascinated with the species and the opportunity to learn about them!"

"We originally purchased two llamas that were half-brothers, so we named them Ernest and Julio, the Gallo Brothers, after the wine."

On Julio's new Guinness World Records title, she added: "We were so happy for our dear old friend to receive recognition for his long life! Julio now lives a life of luxury on our family farm near Olympia."

"He is incredibly sweet. So willing to go for walks, do obstacle courses at the fairs when he was younger and literally hang out next to you and graze. He is a dear friend to our whole family."

Featured in the book is another llama called Caspa, who achieved the Highest bar jump cleared by a llama - 1.13 m (3 ft 8.5 in).

Caspa is now a star among his show-jumping pals at the Blackrock Llama Centre in Wales. But he had some teething problems when he first arrived, showing his dislike for humans by spitting, kicking and biting! He finally found his feet – or hooves – after Sue put him through agility training.